Echoes of the Multiverse
by NeonArmageddon
Summary: The heroes of Nintendo worlds are pulled into a strange land, without any clue what brought them there and for what purpose. As the heroes struggle to grasp the situation, the forces of evil continue to work towards their wicked goals. Will the heroes manage to save not only their worlds, but the entire Mutiverse? Only time will tell...
1. Caught in a storm

Another thunder roared, as rain continued falling from the skies, pouring all over the kingdom of Hyrule. Zelda had seen terrible storms before in her life, but of all of them, this one seemed by far the scariest. It almost felt like it was not supposed to exist in this world, like the storm came from somewhere beyond what she knew. The princess couldn't help but shudder, thinking of how terrible it would be to stand outside, facing the cold downpour and thunderbolts with no walls between you and them.

"Terrible weather, isn't it?" she remarked, looking out the window. The question was aimed at Link, who was assigned to guard her with his life. He wasn't very talkative, so he just silently nodded in response. He also felt there was something unsettling about the storm, but there wasn't much he could do about it anyway. Well, not unless there were any ocarinas laying around the castle, that is.

Finally, Zelda decided she's had enough of the dreadful sight, and she stepped away from the window. She sighed and then dropped onto her bed, looking up at the ceiling.

"Link, do you think there's a world beyond ours?" she asked after a moment of silence. Link thought for a while, before responding with "Perhaps?"

"That would be incredible, wouldn't it?" Zelda said. "That there would exist a world away from our own, full of new wonders to discover…"

She sat up on her bed with a sad expression. "I'm just so tired of this cycle, you know?" she said. "It's always the same, always the hero, the princess, and the demon king… It's a tale so old everyone's prepared for its repeat." She explained, frustrated. "I mean look, here you are, all geared up to protect me once Ganon shows up. You didn't even have any grand journey, they just taught you what the past heroes knew."

Link nodded, despite the fact he didn't like what he was hearing. Zelda was right. He was a descendant of great heroes: the Hero of Time, the Hero of Twilight… and yet he was only a shadow of what they were. He was no hero. He was just a boy who got lucky enough to get the Triforce and be found by the Hyrule royalty. He looked at his palm. The Triforce of Courage shined through his glove. It was the only thing that made him a "hero".

The storm outside kept growing louder and more violent, as it drew closer to the castle. A loud thunder sounded not too far from the princess's chambers. Both Link and Zelda were getting nervous. It was almost as if the storm was headed for them specifically. The thunders kept getting closer and closer. Zelda got up from her bed and got close to Link, holding on tightly to his tunic.

"I don't like this storm one bit…" she whispered. Just a moment later, a lightning broke the window of the chamber, scattering glass everywhere around the previously cozy room. Link managed to get his shield in time, so that no shard hit him or the princess, but the shield wouldn't be enough to protect them against what was in store. A second lightning came, headed directly for them, and Link braced himself for when it hits. And then it hit them, covering the entire room in an incredibly bright light. Both Link and Zelda started to feel dizzy, as the light surrounded them.

"I'm… scared." Zelda managed to muster before she collapsed. Link caught her and tried to hold on and stay conscious, but the light was stronger than him. As he held Zelda in his arms, he too succumbed to the light and his vision faded away. He had the Triforce of Courage, but he was afraid of what was going on, but he was particularly worried about Zelda. He could feel she was still there, but he was afraid to loosen his grip on her. He didn't want to lose her. And as he held her in his arms, he too lost consciousness.


	2. In a strange world

Pain was all that Link could feel upon waking up. His entire body ached like never before in his life. He slowly got up, every move coming to him a bit easier than the last one. Finally, he was standing on his feet, though it took a while. He looked around. To his relief, Zelda was laying on the grass right next to him, still asleep. He then focused on figuring out where they were. Around them were tons of trees, creating a sort of roof over them, sheltering them from the sun. They were in some sort of a forest, that much was clear, but Link had no clue where exactly. The forest didn't really resemble the Lost Woods, to which he had been a few times, or any other Hyrulean forest he knew of. He sighed.

Just then, Zelda opened her eyes. She sat up, yawned, and then looked around. "Link, where are we?" she asked after a thorough inspection of her surroundings. "No clue." Replied the boy, and then helped the princess get up from the ground.

"I guess the storm must've… teleported us here somehow." Zelda theorized. "But I doubt this was just any random magical storm. Someone or something wanted us here."

Link nodded. He too was aware the situation wasn't merely some magical accident. He didn't have any idea who could've wanted them teleported into some random forest, though. As both he and the princess were lost in thought over their odd situation, a weird creature came out of a bush. It looked like a green caterpillar, but it was as large as a small dog, and had huge black eyes. Upon seeing it, Link drew his sword, but the creature just chirped "Pie? Caterpie!" and waddled away, completely unfazed.

"That's odd." Zelda said. "I've never seen anything like that creature before, and I've read many books on Hyrule's fauna…" She took a while to think about it. Finally she asked herself aloud: "Could it be possible we're not in Hyrule anymore?"

Link was surprised by that suggestion, but he knew it could be the case. He hadn't seen that Caterpie creature ever before either, and it did seem pretty otherworldly. He also didn't know what the storm was capable of. It was definitely magic, but transporting to other worlds? He'd never heard of anything like it.

Just as Link was thinking about Zelda's theory, a bunch of birds gathered around them. "Spearow! Spearow!" the birds yelled, staring at the Hyruleans. There was a long moment where they just stared at each other, the birds and the two people, and a tension grew between them with each passing second. Finally, the birds couldn't bear it any longer. At least twelve Spearows launched themselves at Link and Zelda. "Eeek!" Zelda shouted, as both her and Link started running from the birds. They ran as fast as they could, fleeing from the screeching wall of feathers following them, doing their best to avoid tripping on any exposed tree roots or rocks, but the birds seemed to be catching up to them very quickly.

Suddenly, Link noticed they were running towards the edge of a cliff and stopped dead in his tracks, intending to try and fend off the birds. However, Zelda didn't manage to stop in time and she ran right into him. They tried to catch balance after slamming into each other, but it was no use. They flew right off the edge and plummeted downward, clinging onto each other.

They were sure they were done for, but instead of hitting the ground, they fell into some body of water with a loud splash. As soon as they realized they were still alive and neck-deep in a lake, they started swimming towards the shore. Zelda was managing just fine, but Link was struggling to stay afloat, weighed down by his gear. Suddenly, he felt something pulling his leg. He only managed to let out a quick yell, before he was pulled underwater.

"Link!" Zelda shouted and quickly swam towards where Link was just a second before, but he was gone. Then, out of the water, another odd creature emerged. It was like some sort of huge blue octopus with red, gem-like plates on it and long white tentacles hanging from below its angry-looking eyes. In one of its tentacles was Link, squeezed tightly and struggling to get out of the creature's grip. Zelda looked in horror, as the creature was waving Link around, tightening its tentacles around him. She was powerless to do anything to help him. She was no fighter, she just knew a spell or two and had tons of book knowledge. She wasn't prepared to deal with a beast like that. She was thinking of a way to help Link, when suddenly, some human-like figure flew through the air with high speed. It struck the tentacle beast with what looked like a sword, and then landed at the lake's shore. The beast roared in pain and threw Link towards the swordsman, before going underwater once again. Zelda quickly swam to the shore and then ran up to Link. To her incredible relief, he seemed to be just fine, besides heavy breathing, he was okay.

Then, Zelda looked at the swordsman who saved him. Well, a closer look revealed that it was not a swordsman, but a swordswoman. The woman had blue hair, blue eyes, and an equally blue outfit. She was looking at Link and Zelda with a warm, albeit delicate smile, in approval of Zelda's care for Link's well-being.

"Thank you for saving him." Zelda said to her. "I was so helpless… But you dealt with that creature effortlessly!"

"Don't mention it, I'm just glad I arrived in time." The woman replied. "A few more squeezes and his ribs could've broken and punctured his lungs."

Zelda shuddered at that thought. The one closest to her could've died a gruesome death just because she had no idea how to help.

"By the way, you two aren't from here either, right?" The blue-haired girl asked.

"I don't think so." Zelda replied. "We were transported here by some sort of… magical storm."

"Magical storm?" The girl's eyes widened. "That's how I ended up here too. One of the thunders struck me and I woke up in this forest."

"Yep, exactly the same as us." Zelda nodded.

"Well, if we stick together, perhaps we can find out more about that storm. I mean, there has to be a reason we were brought here, right?" The girl suggested.

"I see no reason not to, after you saved Link like that." The princess replied, and Link, finally up and on his feet, nodded in approval.

"Very well, that makes us a team then." The girl said and smiled. "By the way, I didn't catch your names, did I?"

"Oh, right. I'm princess Zelda, and this is my guard, Link." Zelda introduced herself and her partner to the girl. "And you are?"

"Lucina. Pleased to meet you." The girl replied.

"Likewise." Zelda said with a smile.

"We should probably get going, we might run into other people who got transported here." Lucina suggested. "Perhaps they'll know more than we do."

"Sounds like a plan." Zelda agreed, and Link approvingly nodded too.

"Your friend doesn't talk too much, does he?" Lucina noticed.

"No, not really. He's a great listener though. And he can do wonders with a sword… Well, when he's not getting crushed by tentacles, anyway." The princess replied.

"He lets the sword do the talking, huh? I can respect that." Lucina said with a smirk. "Alright, let's go then. I bet neither of you want to chat with Mr. Tentacles again."

Without a word, Link nodded yet again and started marching forwards into the woods.

"Yep, definitely an "actions over words" person." Lucina remarked and both she and Zelda started walking too. None of them had any idea where they were, but being together gave them a sense of hope that they may perhaps find out just what is going on. Filled with that hope, they marched through the forest, ready to meet whatever awaited them down the road. And boy, did things await them…


End file.
